utica comets – CanucksBanter

Vancouver Canucks' Jordan Subban skates during action at the NHL Young Stars tournament in Penticton B.C. on Sept 11, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff Bassett — Vancouver Canucks’ Jordan Subban skates during action at the NHL Young Stars tournament in Penticton B.C. on Sept 11, 2015.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff Bassett

By Andrew Chernoff

Jan 19, 2017

Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the club has recalled defenceman Jordan Subban from the AHL Utica Comets and re-assigned defenceman Andrey Pedan to Utica.

Subban, 21, has appeared in 34 games with Utica this season where he currently leads defencemen in goals (9), assists (13) and points (22).

Selected to represent the Comets at the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic, Subban also leads the team in powerplay goals (6) and ranks fourth in shots (83).

The 5-9, 181-pound defenceman made his AHL debut with Utica in 2015.16 appearing in 67 games and registering 36 points (11-25-36).

An offensive defenceman whose most prominent hallmark is his hockey sense. Very mobile skater that displays a high top-end acceleration.

Offensively, his hockey sense is exhibited through his ability to create opportunities and make those small, meaningful plays along the wall and across the blueline. Backchecks hard but his size limits his physical effectiveness.

His hockey sense kicks in defensively when he reads ahead of the play and cuts off passing and shooting lanes.

Definitely needs to work on his awareness and proactivity defensively; however, his offensive game is all but elite at this point. [EP]

Source: http://www.eliteprospects.com/

Prior to making his professional hockey debut in 2015, Subban appeared in 253 OHL regular season games with the Belleville Bulls collecting 165 points (57-108-165).

A native of Rexdale, Ontario, Subban was selected by Vancouver in the fourth round, 115^th overall, at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Pedan, 23, has appeared in 22 games with Utica this season recording two goals, one assist (2-1-3) and 32 penalty minutes.

The 6-5, 218-pound defenceman made his NHL debut with the Canucks in 2015.16 playing 13 games and recording 18 penalty minutes. He also appeared in 45 games for Utica last season, registering career-highs in games played, goals (7), assists (14) and points (21).

Pedan was acquired from the New York Islanders in exchange for Alexandre Mallet and a 2016 third-round selection on November 25, 2014. He was originally selected by the New York Islanders, 63^rd overall, at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Vancouver Canucks’ Jordan Subban (67) has his eye on the puck next to Edmonton Oilers’ Matt Benning (83) during first period 2016 NHL Young Stars Classic action at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, BC., September 16, 2016. NICK PROCAYLO / PNG

team_ahl_utica_commets

By Andrew Chernoff

Jan 5, 2017

The Utica Comets (10-15-5-1) are back in action on Friday, January 6 as they conclude a five-game homestand against North division rivals, the Albany Devils (20-13-0-1), hoping to snap their 9 consecutive game losing streak (0-4-4-1).

The Comets are presently in 7th and last place in the North Division of the American Hockey League, with 26 points; while, the Devils occupy 2nd place in the same division, with 41 points.

The Comets are one of five teams that do not have a home record above .500.

The team enters January where they only play five home games, three of which on the last week of the month.

LAST GAME

The Utica dropped a 6-3 decision to the Rochester Americans on Saturday, Dec 31 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

The Comets struck first with a goal from Alexandre Grenier on the power play eight minutes into the game. Rochester battled back with two goals in the first to take the lead. Darren Archibald tied the game in the second period with a feed from Curits Valk.

The Americans scored two more goals in the middle part of the second period to grab a 4-2 lead. Entering the third period, Rochester added another goal to extend the lead. Colby Robak tallied the final Comets goal to close the gap. An empty netter concluded the scoring to give the Americans a 6-3 win.

The Comets power play went 2-10, while the penalty kill surrendered one goal in five attempts.

Demko stopped 17 of 22 shots as his record falls to 7-8-3. Linus Ullmark made 26 saves to improve his record to 13-12-1.

Source: Utica Comets

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Comets have played the Devils four times this season and are 2-1-1-0 against Albany, including a 3-1 victory in their only home game against the Devils on Dec 3.

Alex Grenier leads the Comets in scoring (8-15=23 points), followed by Jordan Subban (8-12=20 points) and Curtis Valk (10-9=19 points).

VIRTANEN WATCH

Jake Virtanen continues to put in his time in the AHL with the Canucks affiliate, and after 20 games has 4 goals-3 assists=7 points.

JORDAN SUBBAN TO REPRESENT COMETS AT 2017 AHL ALL-STAR GAME

Jordan Subban has been selected to represent Utica at the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, to be held January 29-30 at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

UTICA ON ROAD SATURDAY, SUNDAY TO FINISH UP WEEKEND

The Comets leave for Hershey after Friday night, to take on the Bears on Saturday; then off to face the Leigh High Valley Phantoms, Sunday.